Bishop Coyner E-pistles

Bishop Mike Coyner's Farewell Message from Indiana Conference UMC on Vimeo. As I write this, my last E-pistle, I realize that I am going through a transition where I am becoming a "rookie" again. Remember all of those transitions in your school years? You went from being in the oldest ...

This summer has produced lots of rain in surprising places, and some of that rain has produced disasters. One has been here in Indiana where the south side of South Bend had huge amounts of rain and over 40 homes were damaged badly by the flooding. Of course the huge flood has occurred in ...

By now you have probably heard that the Council of Bishops Executive Committee (of which I am not a member) is in the process of naming the special commission which was approved by the General Conference to seek a way forward for our UMC. Each active bishop has been asked to nominate five ...

During my years as a pastor, District Superintendent, and Bishop, I have participated in many ground breaking ceremonies – for new church facilities, building additions, and other projects. Until yesterday, I had never participated in two in one day. That happened yesterday in a great ...

As I prepare to move into retirement, I am pleased to share that Operation Classroom continues to be a strong mission emphasis of our Indiana Conference, and in fact they are moving into a new area of emphasis which is a great partnership with the Sierra Leone Conference. This new emphasis...

During the NCJ Conference last month, the candidates for bishop were asked in a forum sponsored by BMCR (Black Methodists for Church Renewal), "What question do you think we in the church have not yet asked or not yet fully answered?" Several of the candidates gave excellent answers, of ...

Bishop Coyner interview on Transition from Indiana Conference UMC on Vimeo. Now that we know the assignment of the new bishop for Indiana (Bishop Julius Trimble), I have had some people ask me for the list which I shared at the “Our Life Together” retreat for clergy earlier this year ...

Last week was a series of reminders about transitions, change, and life journeys. It was also a time of being reminded that the church goes on. God is faithful. We are blessed with the "continuity" of God's leadership, care, and direction. Here is what happened: four bishops were retired ...

It seems almost every day as I read, watch, or hear the morning news, there is news of another shooting. Some of those have been “mass shootings” in Orlando or other cities, some have been shootings here in Indianapolis, and some have been “officer-involved” shootings in cities where we ...

I was home last Wednesday waiting for some repairmen to arrive at our house, so I watched some of the celebration in Cleveland. They deserved a time to celebrate after all of those years of frustration. Finally, their beloved NBA team, the Cavaliers, had won a world championship and ended ...

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